Education and Elite Soccer: An Examination of the Female Experience in Norway and Canada : A Qualitative Study of Elite Female Soccer Players in Norway and Canada

Abstract

Women's soccer has expanded in the last 30 years, from purely amateur to increasingly professional. The emergence of paid women's leagues throughout the world, symbolizes this growth, in addition to the exposure of the Women's World Cup (WWC), U20 and U17 WWC. This study was undertaken in order to examine the question: What is the experience of Norwegian and Canadian elite female soccer players in combining soccer with education? The theory and concepts of Pierre Bourdieu were utilized as the lens in which to examine the findings of this research. These include concepts related to field, habitus and the ability to acquire and convert capital from time spent as elite female players, into life and career postsoccer. Twenty women who were all elite female soccer players in high school were interviewed for the study, ten from Norway and ten from Canada, who were between the ages of 24 and 32. Of the ten from each nation, five were those that reached the highest level of play in their respective countries, and five who did not. The method of research conducted was the life history interview method. Results showed that the majority of those that were elite female players in high school in Canada went on to finish a university degree in 4-5 years. This is because the soccer structure in North America ties a university education and elite level soccer inherently together. All the elite level Norwegian players did not finish their university degrees in a standard three to four years, with their soccer commitments cited as the main reason. However, Norwegians were better able to continue to play soccer at an elite level, after they were finished university and could balance a career, while Canadians had to make a choice between career and soccer as soon as they were finished with their bachelor degree. Looking at the results through the lens of Bourdieu, besides educational capital, there was very little ability to convert capital acquired from being an elite female player into skills required for a career post-soccer. These findings concur with past research which has shown very limited opportunities for females in soccer, whether in coaching or administration, once they are done with their own on-field careers. Thus women in both countries need to be conscientious in building up skills and options for their career, once they have retired from the sport.